Design and Implementation of Robust Decentralized Control Laws for the ACES Structure at Marshall Space Flight Center

Abstract

Many large space system concepts will requir active vibration control to satisfy critical performance requirements such as line-of-sight accuracy. In order for these concepts to become operational it is imperative that the benefits of active vibration control be practically demonstrated in ground-based experiments. This report describes an experiment conducted by Harris as part of the NASA CSI Guest Investigator Program. The results of this experiment successfully demonstrate active vibration control for a flexible structure. The testbed is the ACES structure at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. The ACES structure is dynamically traceable to future space systems and especially allows the study of line-of-sight control issues.